Teachable Moments: Balfour declaration laid ground for Jewish state

11:15 PM,
Jul. 24, 2013

Arthur James Balfour

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On Nov. 2, 1917, British Foreign Secretary Arthur Balfour sent a letter to Baron Roths­child that he urged be shared with leaders of the Zionist movement and set into motion changes that have reverberated through the century since.

"His Majesty's Government view with favor the establishment in Palestine of a national home for the Jewish people, and will use their best endeavors to facilitate the achievement of this object, it being clearly understood that nothing shall be done which may prejudice the civil and religious rights of existing non-Jewish communities in Palestine, or the ...